We’ve had a lot to say about the Palm Pre over the last few months, but it pales to insignificance compared to the epic monster of a Palm Pre review our noble Editor-in-Chief, Dieter Bohn, has just dropped on sibling site PreCentral.net:

There are Pre Reviews & then there are huge Pre Reviews with 12 videos and photo galleries w/ 200 images for companions

Well. Done. Sir.

If you’re tired of the sizzle and want some steak, if you’ve seen smoke but question if there’s fire, get thee over to PreCentral.net and read the Palm Pre review.

Then hurry back here and tell us what you think of it, and how you think it’ll compare with the iPhone!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

PreCentral.net Reviews the Palm Pre

iPhone Live! comes to you tonight (Wednesday, June 3) at 8pm EDT/5pm PDT.

That’s right — WE’RE GOING WEEKLY, BABY! No longer will you be left to wonder, “is iPhone Live! this week or next?!” It’s. Every. Week.

As always, pre-show will start about 10 min. before if you want to drop by early and reserve a space in our still capacity-challenged chat room. See you then!

Join in via http://www.tipb.com/live

Chat with you soon!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone Live! Tonight 8pm EDT/5pm PDT

iPhoneinCanada.ca is reporting that as of June 16, Rogers will begin offering a “heavy user” data plan for 15GB at $150 a month. Those of us who remember 200MB at $100 a month are no doubt shaking our heads, but for especially rapacious users on tethered or laptop setups, it could be more than worth the money:

Device support: All iPhones, Blackberries, HTC Devices, Smartphones, and Mobile Internet Sticks

Anyone hopping on that premium bandwagon any time soon?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Rogers Canada Now Offering 15GB/$150 for “Heavy Users”

When iTunes 8.2 debuted in prerelease form (for developers running the iPhone 3.0 beta firmware), one of the more exciting features from the back-end perspective was crash logs being made available via iTunes Connect.

Well, Hassan from Inside Redbox Mobile reminded us that, with iTunes 8.2 going into general availability — and into the hands of consumers — developers now have access to the full range of crash logs from their full base of installed customers. Bug. Fixing. Goldmine. (See the Inside Redbox Mobile crash log report, above.)

From the consumer standpoint, the information looks to be as anonymized as anything else sent from iTunes to Apple — Genius info, for example — and in exchange for sharing, users will likely get more stable apps.

Sounds good to us!

[Thanks Hassan!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iTunes 8.2 Release = Consumer Crash Log Boom to Developers

Remember that exonormous server farm Apple was considering building in North Carolina? Apple Insider (via the AP) says that’s it’s a go. Apple has the money, the technology, and now… the tax breaks. So the only unknown that remains is…

What the frapple are they going to do with a hub that huge?!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Good to Go: Apple’s One Billion Dollar North Carolina Server Farm

First there was Jawbone. Then Jawbone 2. Now we have Jawbone PRIME, the latest — and maybe the greatest — noise-assassinating Bluetooth headset ever to pair with an iPhone.

Available for $119.95 from TiPb’s iPhone store, we’ll see if it lives up to its reputation, and its premium price… after the break.

What’s in the Box

Aliph really went all out to make the Jawbone PRIME an experience. Right from the start, the headset is presented to you floated in a clear box with a treasure trove of extras stashed beneath. Like with Apple products, you reveal these extras in layers, first a selection of 5 extra ear pieces for a total of six. You have small, medium, and large both for solo wear and for use with either the regular ear loop or the “premium” leather ear loop. Also included in the second layer is the USB cord (standard USB to proprietary connector — unfortunately no micro-USB on the headset end) as well as an AC adaptor if you want to plug the cord into a wall socket. All in all, a generous and well rounded assortment.

Design

Compared to the original Jawbone, which was my primary headset for almost a year, Jawbone PRIME is smaller and lighter, if not appreciably thinner. Yes, the uber-sexy exterior still hides a fairly plump little, kidney bean shaped device that cozies up to its namesake — your jawbone. It’s also got a textured outside face, much like the original, though as with the Jawbone 2, it’s gone from overtly cheese grater-like to a more subtle, dimpled look.

For the fashion-conscious, the simple truth is it remains arguably the best looking headset on the market — and comes in a wide variety of colors so you can accessorize to your hearts content (meaning I went with turtle-neck black, of course).

Usability

Pairing? Come on, we’re iPhone users. You turn it on, it pops up on your iPhone Bluetooth Settings panel, you select it, it asks for verification, and — boom! — you’re paired.

Charging is also a snap — literally. You snap the Jawbone PRIME (much as you did previous Jawbones) into the proprietary USB cable and plug the other end into a standard, powered USB port on your PC, laptop, hub, etc. or into the provided AC adaptor. Of course, I wish they’d used micro-USB on the headset end just so cables could be re-used between devices, so if there’s a single knock against Aliph, that’s it.

Wearing the Jawbone PRIME, depending on whether you choose to rock the ear loop is either as simple as placing it in your ear pointing down and twisting up (for without) or just hooking it into place. Easy peasy.

At this point I have to mention, as I do with every headset review, that my ears have been battered to the point that almost nothing fits right in them anymore (a few in-ear designs aside). So, I went with the ear loop and even then, if I’m not careful to readjust, the ear loop alone typically ends up keeping the device in anything resembling proximity to my head. For you non-mutants out there, you’ll likely have no problem at all, especially given the 6 different fitting options that come with the Jawbone PRIME.

Using the Jawbone PRIME to take calls involves pressing the main “button” on the face of the device. I but “button” in “quotes” because Aliph seems to share Apple’s hatred for obvious clicking mechanisms and so the “button” is completely invisible. You press it much as you do an Apple mouse or new-style trackpad — through the entire surface.

There’s nothing hidden about call quality, however. I tried it out walking outside, in the car during rush hour, and in a big-iron server room with multiple machines, drives, and cooling systems whirring.

This button will also, if held down, turn the headset off or on.

Jawbone PRIME’s second button, located at the top of the device just above the charging port, is even more of a multi-tasker. It will cycle through volume (because there’s no separate volume rocker… tsk!), reject calls, etc. (i.e. initiate voice calls on other platforms). If held down, it will also turn of NoiseAssasin, or turn it back on again.

Technology

Forgive me for quoting from Aliph here, but if you’re interested in more than just does it work (it does!), here’s how:

Acoustic Voice Activity Detector (AVAD) provides a fail-safe mechanism when the Voice Activity Sensor (VAS) doesn’t touch your face. When the VAS is not touching the face, Jawbone PRIME performs as good as or better than any other noise canceling headset. When the VAS touches the face, you get the turbo-boost to the NoiseAssassin performance.

Jawbone PRIME also has a subtle wind feedback mechanism built into the headset that gently alerts you when voice clarity is compromised due to wind gusts so the user can self-correct. While Jawbone PRIME does not completely remove the impact of wind, it does more than any other headset to remove wind and alert the user to the fact that wind may be affecting the conversation.

Conclusion

Jawbone PRIME is the best headset I’ve used to date. Stylish, flexible, and most importantly — highly functional, it builds upon the previous generation of Jawbone’s to raise the bar another notch.

Sure, micro-USB and a volume rocker would be nice, no doubt about it, but those minor discontents can’t take away from the overall package which, if it isn’t best of breed, is certainly a leading contender for the title.

If fit, finish, and performance are more important than a budget price point, Jawbone PRIME just might be the headset for you.

Pros

• 6 fitting options including 3 for ear-loop use.
• Stylish yet comfortable
• Cutting edge noise cancelation technology
• Premium product

Cons

• Apple-like lack of overt buttons and standard connectors
• Premium price

TiPb Review Rating

(Note: I’m philosophically opposed to perfect scores — everything can be improved. However, lacking a 4.9 star option, I rounded up in their favor. Still, I challenge Aliph to shoot for that 4.95 next year, okay?)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Review: Jawbone PRIME for iPhone

BusinessWeek has an article up on Apple and Google considering app-sharing tools and — hold on, let’s deconstruct:

People like apps. “Tell a friend” buttons or, you know, actually physically showing someone a great app is difficult and far too real-world-contract requiring. However, Apple has iPhone 3.0 on the way, and with it — someone thinks they could enable something that might somehow enable and incentivize app sharing. And Google is considering enabling the same type of “recommendations”. Maybe.

Okay. Rewind.

Apps make a lot of money. Apps could make more money if not just the store or developers were selling them, but if users could push them to (at?) each other as well. Sound familiar? To the 5 of you reading who once owned Zunes, it probably does. Welcome to the Social. Just please don’t use the term “squirt”.

The theory is this. I love me some Peggle. I use a variation on iPhone 3.0’s P2P (peer-to-peer) connection technology to “share” Peggle with Leanna and Chris, who will then gobble it up, have tons of fun, and curse me for their loss of sleep time, likely in that order.

It’s not a crazy idea, even if Microsoft was already on to it years ago. iPhone 3.0 will already let you invite friends to join in multiplayer games. That could, theoretically, be extended to offer purchases for the game if they don’t already have it. Likewise, the BT-range limit could be extended to WiFi network or even cell provider (Oh, hi, AT&T infrastructure!)

To further promote the recommendations/sharing, Apple could — again theoretically — offer referral fees if/when the recommended/shared app is eventually converted into a sale. (Of course, the App Store, even under 3.0, doesn’t offer demos, so that would likely need to change first).

It’s an interesting idea at re-intermediating software sales. Microsoft is already “squirting” among Zune users, which makes sense given their very different, subscription-focused model. But the question is, with Apple being Apple, is it something they would do? Is it something they should?

And don’t be squirting no fart apps in our general directions! (Sorry, had to be said!)

[Thanks to the Reptile for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Don’t Call it “Squirting”! iPhone to get Social With App Sharing?

Our all-grown up sibling site, PreCentral.net has just hit the mid-point in their debut device, mega-give away contest, What Would You Do for a Palm Pre? And the answers, at least thus far, have been as compelling as they’ve been — well, quite frankly disturbing.

From Pre-verts to Pre-jects to all around Pre-fects, (tip o’ the meme to CrackBerry Kevin), their awesome community showed up in full force — if not full faculty — video cameras in hand, and oh my but they’ve brought’n'd it!

• Tattoo Guy. Ouch. And… ouch!
• Gorilla at Law. That whole video is out of order!
• Death by Curry. Nom. Nom. Kapow!

And more to come! Keep an eye on PreCentral.net for the rest of the week, for the rest of the videos, and if you’re already lined up outside a Sprint store for this Saturday’s big Pre launch, do say hi to Dieter for us!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Wednesday Fun Videos: ZOMG! What Have They Done to Win a Palm Pre?!

Adam Jackson (via MacRumors) caught the first shot of WWDC 2009’s first banner and it’s one near and dear to TiPb’s heart. Check out the hero shot above, and Adam’s Flickr page for more Moscone center goodness.

Obviously, the App Store, with 45,000+ apps and over 1 billion downloads, was the mobile success story of 2008 — if not one of the great software platform success stories of all time. That Apple is keeping it front and center might also just mean we ain’t seen nothing yet.

We won’t quibble about the date (App Store launched July 11, 2008 while WWDC 2009 launches June 8 with Phil Schiller at the helm), and we won’t bring up those still stupefying rejections — this time.

There’s less than a week to go, after all…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

WWDC Banner Revealed: One Year Later, Light-Years Ahead

With WWDC 2009 right around the corner, there is excitement in the air. The iPhone OS 3.0 software and a highly possible next generation iPhone are right around the corner. Now what does this have to with the Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Headset? The answer to that question is simple - A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile). Finally A2DP is coming to an iPhone near you… unless you still plan on keeping that first generation iPhone. (Sadly, for A2DP, you guys will need to upgrade to a current 3G model or the soon-to-be-announced next generation hardware.)

So, iPhone 3G owners, what better way to get a jump on things than by picking up the Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Headset?! It is available in TiPb’s sibling store WMExperts for a cool $69.95. After the break, a full review!

Design

The Voyager 855 consists of two pieces: a headset unit, which is where you will find all of your controls, and the detachable earpiece, which is what you will use to turn the 855 into a stereo headset - pretty crafty indeed.

The headset is sleek and stylish with its black coating with silver trimmed accents. The mic boom slides out to bring the microphone closer to your mouth. That not only makes it easier for the person with whom you are speaking to hear you, it’s also a way to answer and end calls - more on that a bit later.

Next up is it’s size. The Voyager tips the scales at mear .53 ounce (11 Grams) so it is surprisingly on the lighter side compared to other headsets available. It measures 2.25 inches by 0.5 inch by 0.6 inch. So again, not large by any means unless you have the boom extended. With the boom, look to add another inch or so to it’s length. To get a better grasp on it’s size below you will can see the Voyager next to the Jawbone 2 and Apple’s no longer available headset.

Now if you are looking to get in on the stereo bluetooth action you will need the separate stereo plug-in cable with earpiece. It looks just like a regular earbud attached to an ear loop. To get stereo bluetooth you simply need to attach the ear loop with earpiece to the main headset. The stereo setup is meant to be worn with the cable resting behind your neck.

Also included in the box: ear loop stabilizer (2 sizes), sound isolating ear buds, micro USB charger, lanyard, and carrying case.

Usability

I’ve been using the Voyager 855 for about a week now and I will admit the sound quality is pretty good compared to other headsets I have used in the past. While the headset is not as clear as — or does not boast noise cancelation like the Jawbone — it does contain AudioIQ, which is simply a fancy name for digital signal processing or DSP. Without noise cancelation, loud conditions did create a bit of background noise but people I spoke with did not have any problems hearing me or vice versa. So overall the AudioIQ does it’s job well. To make your voice heard even better you can also slide the boom down closer to your mouth. The boom can also be used to answer and end calls simply by sliding it out or in respectively.

The added bonus of the Voyager 855 is it’s ability to turn into a stereo bluetooth headset by simply adding the stereo plug-in cable. The sound quality for listening to music was pretty decent as well. I have no complaints in that department.

The big question I always have when it comes to bluetooth headset is how comfortable is it to wear and how is the battery life? This headset comes with three earbud pairs in different sizes, allowing you to pick and choose the most comfortable fit for you. You can wear the headset with or without the included earloop, on either your left or right ear. So with that said, you should not have any issues finding the right combination that will comfortably fit your needs. Battery life was excellent. Plantronics claims 7 hours of talk time, 6 hours of listening time, and 160 hours of standby time. I’ve put it through the ringer this week and have had to charge it two times within the week with a good amount of usage.

Conclusion

The Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Headset, which is available in the WMExperts store for $69.95 is a fantastic deal. Not only will you be able to take full advantage of the upcoming 3.0’s A2DP feature you get a very good overall bluetooth stereo headset.

Pros

• Low price for what you get
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Fits comfortably
• Great battery life

Cons

• No noise cancelation
• Micro USB charger

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Pre-Review: Plantronics Voyager 855 A2DP Stereo Bluetooth Headset